“THE AT, HOWEVER, IS NOT A DOG THAT CAN BE PUSHED AROUND. HIS WORK ETHIC IS EXCELLENT IF YOU USE PROPER TRAINING TECHNIQUES.”
Th e AT, however, is not a dog that can be pushed around. His work ethic is excellent if you use proper training tech- niques. Positive reinforcement is a must and you must convince him that your desires are really his, or, at the very least, in his best interest before beginning structured training. A puppy founda- tion class is an excellent way to connect with your dog while he learns to inter- act appropriately with other dogs and people. He should learn such commands (or suggestions!) as “leave it”, “come with me”, “hold still”, “quiet”, “not ok to uri- nate”, “watch me”, “no sni ff ”, “okay to meet another dog”, or “let’s go on”, “wait”, “release”, “settle”. Equally impor- tant are the fun commands, “sni ff ”, “go play”, “release”, “dig”, “what is it?”, “okay to urinate”, “ok to jump”, “tug and growl”, “find the cookie”, “speak”.
Once you have your connection, you can begin to strengthen the Aussies desire to work for you. Once your dog has mastered the foun- dation class, you may want to train him in structured performance venues. Agil- ity is an excellent area for the Aussies to showcase their abilities. It requires jumping, climbing, and weaving on a course that o ff ers 16-20 obstacles to be performed in a specific order. It requires an athletic, fast dog that takes direc- tion well. It requires months to years of training, so the owner must be able to continually motivate the dog to perform many repetitions of an obstacle. Positive reinforcement must be used and moti- vators should be varied and novel. An unexpected toss of a favorite toy after a successful weave pole performance is as important as a cookie after the run.
Keeping your Aussie guessing will keep him happy in his work. Obedience and rally are excellent for the Aussie and his owner. Again, the rep- etitious nature of practice requires novel, frequent and unexpected rewards. Obe- dience is more structured than rally and therefore requires more practice. Rally is a form of obedience which allows a more relaxed approach to the performance. It allows the owner to talk to the dog and encourage his performance.
208 • S HOW S IGHT M AGAZINE , A PRIL 2015
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